Defense, Chapter 5 - Smith Signal - Part II

In this series of articles I will write about important matters on defense. If you missed the previous ones, see Oren on Defense.

Chapter 5: Smith Signal. Part II

What is the Smith signal? When to give it?
The Smith signal is an attitude carding signal. Smith signal is given at trick 2. It can be given by any of the two defenders, either the one who is on lead, or his partner. Smith is used to show attitude, unless when looking at the dummy and declarer's play it is clearly more important to give count (will refer to that in a later example).

So, playing Smith, a defender will follow with a low card to the 2nd trick if he is not interested in the opening suit, and will play a high card if he likes the suit attacked by the opening leader.

We will continue with examples.

Example h)

	♠A542 ♥65 ♦Q1095 ♣A83
♠KJ3 ♥K9742 ♦A3 ♣1072		♥ 10

Against 3NT you lead the ♥4. Partner played the ♥10 and declarer won with the ♥Q. Declarer continued with the ♦K at trick 2, and you won with the ♦A. Partner followed with the ♦9. What does he signal, and what will continue? Partner is signaling you he has interest in heart! Since he can't have the ♥A (else he would have played it at trick 1), he must have the ♥J (and played the ♥10 from ♥J10), an important card for you! Continue with ♥2 to develop the heart suit. This can be the heart situation:

	♥65
♥K9742		♥J103
	♥AQ8

Hopefully, your spade suit might provide an entry to the last hearts.

Example i)

	♠A542 ♥65 ♦Q1095 ♣A83
♠KJ3 ♥K9742 ♦A3 ♣1072		♥ 10

Against 3NT you lead the ♥4. Partner played the ♥10 and declarer won with the ♥Q. Declarer continued with the ♦K at trick 2, and you won with the ♦A. Partner followed with the ♦2. What does he signal, and what will he continue? Partner is signaling you he has no interest in heart. He can't have the ♥A nor does he have the ♥J. So... switch to another suit. This can be the heart situation:

	♥65
♥K9742		♥1083
	♥AQJ

Notice that if you play another heart, declarer will get freely his ♥J too while another suit will hold him on 2 heart tricks.

As mentioned in the beginning, Smith signaling works for both defenders.

Example j)

	♠A32 ♥432 ♦432 ♣AK32
♠954 ♥AQ976 ♦J75 ♣64		♥ J

Against 3NT you lead the ♥7 (4th best). Partner played the ♥J and declarer won with the ♥K and continued with the ♠Q. You must play the ♠9, telling partner that you are interested in a heart continuation, as a ♥7 lead will not always indicate that you have a good suit:

	♠A32 ♥432 ♦432 ♣AK32
♠954 ♥AQ976 ♦J75 ♣64		♠K76 ♥J5 ♦Q1098 ♣J1075
	♠QJ108 ♥K108 ♦AK6 ♣Q98

Partner wins the ♠K, continues with the ♥5 and defense wins their 5 tricks.

Example k)

	♠A32 ♥932 ♦432 ♣AK32
♠94 ♥107654 ♦AQ95 ♣64		♥ J

Against 3NT you lead the ♥7 (2nd best). Partner played the ♥ J and declarer won with the ♥ K and continued with the ♠Q. You must play the ♠4, telling partner that you are NOT interested in a heart continuation. Partner will look for another suit, normally the weak suit of the dummy, and play accordingly:

	♠A32 ♥932 ♦432 ♣AK32
♠94 ♥107654 ♦AQ95 ♣64		♠K765 ♥J8 ♦J107 ♣J1075
	♠QJ108 ♥AKQ ♦K86 ♣Q98

Partner gets the ♠K, switch to the ♦ J and defense gets their 4 diamonds and a spade trick to set.


Example l)

	♠754 ♥105 ♦A863 ♣Q752
♥ 4		♠J10932 ♥Q96 ♦K5 ♣643

Against 3NT partner lead the ♥4. You tried the ♥Q but declarer won with the ♥A and played his ♦Q to your ♦ K, as your partner gave the ♦2. What now? Switch to the ♠J as partner is signaling a poor heart suit:

	♠754 ♥105 ♦A863 ♣Q752
♠AQ6 ♥J8743 ♦92 ♣J108		♠J10932 ♥Q96 ♦K5 ♣643
	♠K8 ♥AK2 ♦QJ1074 ♣AK9

A "normal" heart return will give away the contract as declarer have 4 diamonds, 2 hearts and 4 clubs = 10 tricks. ♠J switch will set the contract by 2 tricks: 5 spades and ♦K for the defense!


Example m)

	♠754 ♥105 ♦A863 ♣Q752
♥ 4		♠J10932 ♥Q96 ♦K5 ♣643

Against 3NT partner lead the ♥4. You tried the ♥Q but declarer won with the ♥A and played his ♦Q to your ♦K, as your partner gave the ♦ 9. What now? Partner is showing interest in heart, the suit he led. Continue with the ♥9:

	♠754 ♥105 ♦A863 ♣Q752
♠Q6 ♥KJ8432 ♦92 ♣J108		♠J10932 ♥Q96 ♦K5 ♣643
	♠AK8 ♥A7 ♦QJ1074 ♣AK9

A heart return will set the contract by 2 tricks: 5 hearts and ♦K for the defense. A spade switch will be bad this time, and declarer will make 11 tricks (2spades, 1 heart, 4 diamonds and 4 clubs).


Example n)

	♠K62 ♥986 ♦A62 ♣8732
♥ 5		♠A73 ♥Q73 ♦J8753 ♣K4

Against 4♠ partner lead the ♥5. You played the ♥Q and declarer won with the ♥A and continued with the ♠Q. Partner followed with the ♠4 and you won with the ♠A. Now what? Switch to the ♣K as partner is signaling a poor heart suit:

	♠K62 ♥986 ♦A62 ♣8732
♠94 ♥10542 ♦1094 ♣A1065		♠A73 ♥Q73 ♦J8753 ♣K4
	♠QJ1085 ♥AKJ ♦KQ ♣QJ9

Only a switch will set the contract: ♠A, ♣AK, and club ruff.


Example o)

	♠K62 ♥984 ♦A62 ♣8732
♥ 5		♠A73 ♥Q73 ♦J8753 ♣K4

Against 4♠ partner lead the ♥ 5. You played the ♥Q and declarer won with the ♥A and continued with the ♠Q. Partner followed with the ♠9 and you won with the ♠A. Now what? Partner ask for heart, so no reason to switch:

	♠K62 ♥984 ♦A62 ♣8732
♠94 ♥K1065 ♦1094 ♣Q965		♠A73 ♥Q73 ♦J8753 ♣K4
	♠QJ1085 ♥AJ2 ♦KQ ♣AJ10

Continue heart and defense will win 2 heart tricks, 1spade and 1 club to set. If you try a club switch, declarer will be able to throw a heart loser on the ♦A.

When not to signal Smith at trick 2:
1.) When our holding in the suit is clear, say we lead the K , showing a sequence
2.) When it's essential to give count:

	♠543 ♥54 ♦543 ♣KQJ107
♠Q		♠987 ♥KQJ10 ♦1092 ♣952

Against 3NT partner lead the ♠Q. Declarer won your ♠7 with the ♠K and continued with the ♣4. Partner gave the ♣3 and dummy played the ♣10. What do you signal?

	♠543 ♥54 ♦543 ♣KQJ107
♠QJ102 ♥876 ♦876 ♣A83		♠987 ♥KQJ10 ♦1092 ♣952
	♠AK6 ♥A932 ♦AKQJ ♣64

Spade position is clear as partner led from the top of sequence. He also knows that declarer has the ♠A else you would play it at trick 1. But even if all this is unclear, it is more important to give count in club so that your partner will know how many times to hold up the ♣A. Play low here, indicating an ODD numbers of clubs (see previous article on count) and partner will count declarer for 2 club cards and hold up just once to kill dummy. If he holds up twice, declarer has 9 tricks: 2 spades, 1 heart, 4 diamonds and 2 clubs.

Defense, Chapter 5; Smith Signal - Part I

In this series of articles I will write about important matters on defense. If you missed the previous ones, see Defense: Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.

Chapter 5: Smith Signal. Part I

What is the Smith signal? When to give it?
The Smith signal is an attitude carding signal. Smith signal is given at trick 2. It can be given by any of the two defenders, either the one who is on lead, or his partner. Smith is used to show attitude, unless when looking at the dummy and declarer's play it is clearly more important to give count (will refer to that in a later example).

So, playing Smith, a defender will follow with a low card to the 2nd trick if he is not interested in the opening suit, and will play a high card if he likes the suit attacked by the opening leader.

Example a)

	♥75
♥AT632		♥J
	♥K

Against 3NT you lead the ♥3, partner plays the ♥J and declarer wins the trick with the ♥K. The ♥Q is missing. Who has the ♥Q?

It can be either with partner (with ♥QJ he will play the ♥J as 3rd hand, low from sequence - see Defense: Chapter 3) or with declarer (declarer might choose to play the ♥K from ♥KQ).

If partner has the ♥Q, next time you are on lead you need to continue with another heart to his ♥Q.

If declarer has it, we would need to get partner on lead, on another suit, so that he can return a heart from his hand to our ♥AT through declarer's ♥Qx to capture declarer's ♥Q.

So... How can we find out, early enough, who has the ♥Q?

Declarer plays now, at trick 2, another suit. Watch what happens now, in this suit that declarer plays at trick 2:
- If partner follows with a low card, he is telling you that he does not have the ♥Q
- If partners follows suit with a high card, he is saying that he has the ♥Q, so you know it's safe to play a low heart next time you win the lead.

Example b)

	♠AQ52 ♥75 ♦K943 ♣J62
♥3		♠963 ♥QJ4 ♦A72 ♣9854
	♥K

Same situation as in previous example, but this time you are in partner's seat.

Your partner lead the ♥3. Dummy played the ♥5, you followed with the ♥J and declarer won the ♥K.

At trick 2, declarer plays a low club to the ♣J in dummy. How will you tell partner that you have the ♥Q?

You must play the ♣9 at this trick, which will encourage your partner to continue hearts.

Example c)

	♠AQ52 ♥75 ♦K943 ♣J62
♥3		♠963 ♥J64 ♦A72 ♣9854
	♥K

Same as in the examples above, but this time the ♥J is your highest card in the suit partner lead. Declarer wins the ♥K and plays a low club to dummy's ♣J.

How will you tell partner you have nothing else in his suit? Now you need to follow with a low club at trick 2. That will tell your partner that you have no further interest in his opening lead suit (= You don't have the ♥Q).

You can use Smith against suit contracts too.

Example d)

	♠KQ43 ♥Q54 ♦842 ♣Q54
♦9		♠82 ♥962 ♦KQ763 ♣K63
	♦A

You are defending 4♠. Partner lead the ♦9. You played the ♦Q and declarer won the ♦A.

At trick 2, declarer plays a spade, and your partner jumps up with the ♠A. You must play the ♠8 to this trick (your highest trump), to show your partner that you like the suit he lead, diamonds (=You have the ♦K).

Example e)

	♠KQ43 ♥Q54 ♦842 ♣Q54
♦9		♠82 ♥962 ♦QT763 ♣KJ3
	♦A

Same situation as the previous example. You are defending 4♠. Partner lead the ♦9. You played the ♦Q and declarer won the ♦A.

At trick 2, declarer plays trumps and partner jumps up with the Ace. This time, follow with the ♠2, indicating you have no further interest in diamonds, the suit lead by partner. Note that the ♠2 does not give suit preference in this situation! It just says you have nothing more to offer in diamonds.

More examples on how to use Smith:

Example f)

	♠A52 ♥Q94 ♦A52 ♣J983
♥8		♠Q643 ♥AJ3 ♦9863 ♣T2
	♥K

You are defending 3NT. Partner lead the ♥8 and declarer tried the ♥9. You played the ♥J and declarer won the ♥K.

Declarer continues with the ♣Q at trick 2. Which card will you play to this trick, and what would it indicate?

Play the ♣T. A high card at trick 2 will tell partner that you have further interest in the suit he lead, hearts (= You have the ♥A!).

The hearts could be something like:

	♥Q94
♥T8752		♥AJ3
	♥K6

In which case, partner needs to know you like his lead, continue with a low heart to your Ace next time he gets the hand and cash the rest of the suit.

Note that if declarer plays low at trick 1, you would also need to play low (the ♥3), because your partner's opening lead of ♥8 shows he lead his 2nd high card without holding an honor (lead 2nd without an honor, lead 4th with at least one honor – see Defense: Chapter 2). That would mean declarer has the ♥T too.

So here, when declarer tried the ♥9 instead of a low card from dummy, it is very important to play the ♣T at trick 2, indicating strong interest in heart continuation!

Example g)

	♠A52 ♥Q94 ♦A52 ♣J983
♥8		♠Q643 ♥J32 ♦9863 ♣T2
	♥K

You are defending 3NT. Partner lead the ♥8 and declarer tried the ♥9. You played the ♥J and declarer won the ♥K.

Declarer continues with the ♣Q at trick 2. Which card will you play to this trick, and what would it indicate?

Play the ♣2. A low card at trick 2 will tell partner that you have no further interest in the suit he lead, hearts (= You do not have the ♥A!).

The hearts could be:

	♥Q94
♥T875		♥J32
	♥AK6

To be continued... Next week we'll continue with more examples on how to use Smith.